Ole Miss went into Athens, Georgia, this past Saturday night with high hopes, but as they have done all season, the homestandings Bulldogs met the challenge, and when the evening concluded, the Rebels were sent home with a 52-17 loss. Number 1 Georgia has been doubted by the “experts” all year for some reason. They had to replace their offensive coordinator in Todd Monken and lost Stetson Bennett, both to the NFL during the off season. So, the doubters said no way a team could win a third straight national championship, which has not happened in the history of Division 1 football since 1934-36, when Minnesota dominated the American College football scene. Well, the Bulldogs were doubted in the third game of the season against South Carolina, three weeks later against unbeaten Kentucky, and two weeks later when the Florida Gators were chopping for some “dog meat” with no luck. Then the following week, once beaten Missouri also left with an “L”. Wonder what the experts will say this week when the Bulldogs travel to Tennessee? I guess we might have to wait till the first Saturday in December in Atlanta and the Nick Saban coached Crimson Tide bus in. Anyway, I think Georgia is pretty darn good.
Number 13 Ole Miss (8-2, 5-2) is not a bad football team. Let’s face it, the Bulldogs have more 4 and 5 stars than maybe anyone in college football. Ole Miss is not in the elite class, but they are vastly improved and are one of the top four or five teams in the SEC for sure. The Rebels will entertain Louisiana-Monroe this Saturday at 11 a.m.
Southern Mississippi won their second consecutive game this past Thursday, 34-31, in an overtime win over Louisiana-Lafayette. Frank Gore Jr. scored from three yards out to give the Golden Eagles the road win. Gore led the Golden Eagles offense with 170 total yards and three touchdowns. True freshman quarterback Ethan Crawford came in the third period and led the USM offense the remainder of the game. Southern Mississippi (3-7, 2-5) will travel to Davis-Wade Stadium this Saturday for an 11 a.m. kickoff against the MSU Bulldogs. The teams last met in 2019 with the Bulldogs dominating the Golden Eagles, 38-15. This will be the 31st meeting between the schools with the Bulldogs leading the series 17-12-1.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs started off with a bang against Texas A&M this past Saturday as Zavion Thomas returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. But things did not go well for the Bulldogs the remainder of the game as the Aggies took a 51-10 win over the Bulldogs. Texas A&M played their last game under head coach Jimbo Fisher, who was fired Sunday morning. A&M started Jaylen Henderson at quarterback, playing in his first game this season. He passed for two scores and ran for two others. The Bulldogs gave true freshman quarterback Chris Parson his first career start but went back to Chris Wright, who started the last three games after Parson had thrown a couple of interceptions. MSU is hoping that Will Rogers will return this week to help stabilize the position. The loss was the third straight for the Bulldogs (4-6, 1-6) who will have to win their final two games against USM and Ole Miss to become bowl eligible for a 14th straight season.
The unbeaten teams are still at seven with Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State and Washington along with James Madison and Liberty with 10-0 records.
The Mississippi Community Colleges state championship will be played in Scooba as East Mississippi will host Co-Lin this Saturday. East Mississippi downed Gulf Coast, 33-21, while Co-Lin ran all over Northwest, 48-14. Co-Lin defeated East Mississippi in the opening week of the regular season, 23-20, in Wesson.
Dale has been writing sports in Mississippi since 1973. Listen to Dale and Marshall Wood on the Brouhaha Sports Show each Tuesday and Friday at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. This week’s guest is former Mississippi sports editor Mac Gordon. To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome, go to wabo105.com and click listen live. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube and listen to archived shows.
